Light reflecting sign and method of making it



. June 5,1945. c s 2,377,508

LIGHT REFLECTING SIGN AND' METHOD OF MAKING IT Filed Sept. 3, 1940INVENT OR.

ran/Z L. Miehae 63.

Patented June 5, 1945 rmnrnnrmicmo slcnnsnn METHOD 1 or MAKING Ir lFrank L.. Michaels, Fort T The Michaels Art. Br

K'y., a corporation of Kentucky v homas,.Ky.,ass ig n or to. onze.Company, Coving ton,

Application September a, 1940,8en'ai No. 355,134 i sclaims. (01.41-24)The present invention relatesv toso:-cal=led light reflecting signs andhas for an objectv the provision of a novel and effective sign of thischaractor and an inexpensive and. simple method of making the same.

An object of the invention is to provide a light refiectingsign in whichthe. characters are of high visibility under both. daylight and nightconditions.

Another object of theinvention is to provide a sign of this characterwhich is: durable and which will remain effective under long periods ofexposure-tothe elements and under the abusesto which such signs arefrequently subjected.

Another objectof the invention is to provide V a method of making, signsof this character utilizing. relatively inexpensive dies and a minimum Iof operations.

These and other objects are; attained by the means and method hereindescribed and disclosed in the, accompanying drawing.. in. which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevationalview of the sign embodying theinvention. a i i Fig. 2 isa view taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is" a sectional view similar to Fig. 2. showing the surfacesheetafterits embossing operation and prepared for the decoratingoperation.

Fig.4 is anenlarged cross-sectional view showing the construction of acomposite sign embodying the invention.

Signs embodying the so-called reflecting metals. ofvarious types havebeen heretofore known and used. Furthermore, the ,so-called reflectingmetal sheets are available on the open market. In the fabrication ofsigns of the present invention for various purposes, e. g., for highwaysigns indicating direction, caution, stop signals, and

the like, I prepare either the Whole sign or one or more insertableindicia for a composite sign by utilizing reflecting metal sheetsinitially hav' ing an overall pattern of uniform protuberances with theface of a sheet polished to mirror-like brilliance presenting facets orlight reflecting surfaces at predetermined angles. The protuberances mayassume various shapes, for example, as shown in United States PatentsNo. 2,004,181 and No. 2,043,690. I

On a reflecting sheet initially having such protuberances extendinguniformly over the entire surface, I emboss a ridge-like outline of adesired letter, numeral or other indicia in block type. By utilizingdies having a, rough or matt I finish, the protuberances are flattenedand eliminated and the polished surface is deleted and a dull, matt,plane surface is presented in lieu packing, and use.

face.

desired color. coating of I1 also prefer that: the top of the ridge-likeborder thereof. When the sign is made" from the unitary sheet, the.background portion: of thesign is likewise flattened to presentsa plane,matt sur- Theb'ody of the block letters or other indicia are untouchedby the. dies and therefore retain alliof the: protuberances with theirmirrorlike, polished, light reflecting surfaces. The bordering ridge:about each letter is appreciably higher than the tops: oftheprotuberances so that a considerable degree of protection for thelightrefiecting :surface is afforded during handling, The dull, mattsurface, an excellent bond for a" enamel paint or the like.

furthermore; provides present a flat surface which. is. susceptible ofdistinctive coloring with a. minimum of; time and According to? themethod otthe invention, the female dies are: rough anduunpolished', thesurface thereof beingrinexpensively formed by the mere omission ofpolishing and grinding. operations. The areas in the die? correspondingwith the desired light-reflecting. block letter surface in the sign arehollowedaway completely so that they remain untouched in theembossingoperation. Itwillbe apparent that a relatively simple pair of embossingdies willnot only produce: the matt, plane background:but itwilli alsoproduce the raised ridge as an outline'about the letter and it maylikewise include the provision of a turned edgeflange bordering thesheet ii desired or required; After the: s-heeth-asvbeen embossed in oneoperation, itmay beisui-tably affixed on any" desired backing material,whereupon the sign is ready for decoration. In the decorating processletters or indicia corresponding to those of the sign are cut fromflexible sheet material having a tacky coating thereon and to provideprotective masks. The masks are of a size as to .cover thelight-reflecting areas and adhesively contact the adjacent inclined wallof the bounding ridge. The covering material or coating, such as enamel,paint or the like, may then be applied by spraying, brushing, dipping,or by any other method to cover the exposed face of the sign. Afterdrying or baking the background of coloring material, the letters orindicia may be brought out in strong relief by passing a coating rollercarrying a contrasting color over the tops of the bounding ridges only.When this is dry and hardened, the masking material is removed and thesign is complete.

Referring now to the drawing: The sheet of reflecting material 5 has theprotuberances 6 of ing said character area and having sloping sidesconnecting with said respective areas, the character area having raisedprotuberances and a mirror-like surface affording a high degree of lightreflection, the surfaces of the top of said border ridge and saidbackground area lying in spaced apart and substantially parallel planesand having a matt surface finish adapted for bonding a coating materialthereto.

3. A sign member comprising a formed metal sheet having a charactershaped area with proby the same is fixed over the tops of protuberances6 and on the opposite inclined walls 9 of the ridges I. The coating ofbackground material H, e. g., for example, yellow enamel is now appliedto all of the exposed matt surfaces and after the drying thereof theflat surfaces 8 which are parallel and offset from the remainder of thesign may be coated by the contrasting colors,

e, g., black, by merely passing the sign beneath an applicator roller.

Referring to Fig. 4, the light-reflecting indicia are made up separatelywith the border ridge 1 bounding a block of the light-reflectingprotuberances 6 and having an external flange l4. A sign face sheet I5is cut out asat I6 to receive the fabricated indicia of the inventionand these parts, together with a backing sheet ii, are securedtogether-by any suitable means, such as rivets Ill. The decoratingprocess may be carried out simultaneously over the sign face l5 and theprefabricated indicia after assembly or they may be independentlydecorated prior to assem bl Ihe inserted indicia are useful in themanufacture of large road signs, etc., carrying lightreflectingdirection arrows or the like.

From the foregoing it will be readily understood that the method andmeans of the invention may be advantageously employed in a wide varietyof signs for decorative effects.

What is claimed is:

I. In a sign of the class described a sheet metal element comprising acharacter shaped area having protuberances and a polished surface, araised ridge bordering said character shaped area and a background areaconnecting with the base of the ridge, said background area and saidborder ridge having a matt flat plane topped surface for bonding with asurface coating material.

2. A metal sign element comprising a metal sheet having a charactershaped area and a background area in uniformly spaced relation and in acommon plane, a raised border ridge outlintuberances thereon and apolished surface, an integral relatively wide and flat topped borderridge raised above the said polished surface area, a background areasurrounding the base of said ridge, a color coating on the backgroundarea and a contrasting color coating on the top of said border ridge.

4, The method of making a metal sign of refleeting metal which consistsin the step of simultaneously embossing on a faceted and polished sheetof metal a border ridge in the shape of a desired character andimparting a matt surface to said ridge and that portion of the metaloutside the ridge. I

5. The method of producing reflecting signs which comprisessimultaneously embossing a raised border ridge outlining a charactershaped area on a sheet of reflecting metal and effecting on the surfaceof said ridge and of the remainder of the sheet a matt surface finish.

6. The method of producing reflecting signs which comprisessimultaneously embossing a raised border ridge outlining a charactershaped area on a sheet of reflecting metal and effecting on the surfaceof said ridge and of the remainder of the sheet a matt surface finish,then coating the matt surface with a selected color coating.

'7. The method of producing reflecting signs which comprisessimultaneously embossing a raised border ridge outlining a charactershaped area on a sheet of reflecting metal and effecting on the surfaceof said ridge and of the remainder of the sheet a matt surface finish,then coating the matt surface with a selected color coating, and thencoating the top of the ridge with a light-absorbing coating.

8. A sign comprising a sheet of light-reflecting metal, a raised outlineridge separating two adjacent contrastingly colored areas, the top ofsaid ridge being flat surfaced and matt finished, and anon-light-refiecting coating on the said top of the said ridge.

FRANK L. MICHAELS.

